Before and After

[FireVan]

Before and After shots of lift and tires. Not finished yet but a big change already. I did a 3" body lift Tried a 2" first) in front + 3" torsion lift. In back I used 2" shackles + 4" springs + adjustable front hanger. Wheels are 15x8 Bajas (4" BS) with 31x10.50 Mickey MTX tires. Used a 5" longer rear brake line and longer travel front and rear shocks. Overall it sits 8" taller than stock in the rear and 7.5" taller in the front. I have 20.5" under the front bumper instead of 13". I have 19.75" under the hitch instead of 10.75. It also has 5" more GC under the rear crossmember and the midpoint on the rockers is 7.75" taller than stock.




Replaced the dark picture with a daylight one. Much better.

[T.Low]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Stout and beefy.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Looks great Steve!

With that much lift in the rear, did you have to lengthen the rear drive shaft? What about adjusting the pinion angle?

[ihatemybike]

Me likey!

[scarecrow]

......i think i need 2 more inches

[WVKayaker]

Looks like the perfect stance...should have been offered as an option from GM...
From piggy to beefy....well done!

[stomp13]

WOW, very nice!

[FireVan]

Looks great Steve!

With that much lift in the rear, did you have to lengthen the rear drive shaft? What about adjusting the pinion angle?

I had the rear set up another 1" with the adjustable hanger and that created a not-so-good looking pinion angle. The height it is now the angle looks to be acceptible. The angle doesn't look any worse than my white vans and that one has no issues. So far I've only driven it up and down the road by the fire barn but I don't feel any vibration. I wouldn't mind the shaft being a little longer though. With the longer travel shocks the axle can hang pretty low at full droop and alot of drive shaft is showing that isn't supposed to be if you know what I mean. I'll check things out more as the project continues.

I still have to relocate the ball joints to the underside of the upper a-arms and get it aligned. I also need to put the frame struts on to stiffen up the chassis. I'm thinking of going with electric cooling fans to clean it up under the hood and some form of a custom air box. I'm open to suggestions on both of those ideas.

I might also make 1" taller engine mounts just to gain more oil pan and exhaust crossover clearance. I was thinking of doing it just to the engine mounts and leave the rear tranny one stock. That would improve the angle of the drive shaft to the rear but would increase the front driveshaft angle. Anyone try this idea yet or have any thoughts about it?

[LaGrasta]

Nice build you have going, more pics when ou get them please.
In the area of drive shaft length and pinion angle... I dealt with these issues when I lowered my '63 Falcon 3-4", but when I lifted my '98 Astro 2", I did not. The length did not seem affected and although I bought 2° pinion shims, i never used them. It just doesn't seem like it needs them. Granted, I never used an angle level, only "eyed" it up for whatever that's worth. Advice?

[FireVan]

Nice build you have going, more pics when ou get them please.
In the area of drive shaft length and pinion angle... I dealt with these issues when I lowered my '63 Falcon 3-4", but when I lifted my '98 Astro 2", I did not. The length did not seem affected and although I bought 2° pinion shims, i never used them. It just doesn't seem like it needs them. Granted, I never used an angle level, only "eyed" it up for whatever that's worth. Advice?

An additional consideration I have regarding the driveshaft length is that I used the adjustable front hangers. They allow me to even go higher out back (high enough now) but they also move the axle back some to allow for more tire clearance at the front of the rear wheel arch. Before I designed them (OV) I used to have issues with 31's eating sheet metal and being eaten by it while hill climbing in the dunes, etc. The tire was so close to the front of the arch that under power they started to make contact. The new hangers solve that problem and allow for the chassis brace. The brace connects to the hanger and to the front subframe giving the subframe 4 more anchor points. The wheelbase increases slightly and the driveshaft could stand to be slightly longer.

BTW- I usually just "eye" in my angles too. A drive at highway speed usually will tell you if there is a issue anyway.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

If you go to an electric fan, grab one from a 3.8L equipped Taurus. I used one in the SPB and Lockdoc uses one in his 93 4x4 with a 305 V8. Bill has a DC Controls controller on his 93 and he wants to put one on the SPB instead of just having it on all the time. For the total cost that mod is very well worth it!

I never did the engine mount lift...just did a SAS and put a 3/16" steel skid plate under it.

[9dawgs]

Very nice Firevan congrats! Welcome to the Land of the Giants!!

[LaGrasta]

An additional consideration I have regarding the driveshaft length is that I used the adjustable front hangers. They allow me to even go higher out back (high enough now) but they also move the axle back some to allow for more tire clearance at the front of the rear wheel arch. Before I designed them (OV) I used to have issues with 31's eating sheet metal and being eaten by it while hill climbing in the dunes, etc. The tire was so close to the front of the arch that under power they started to make contact. The new hangers solve that problem and allow for the chassis brace. The brace connects to the hanger and to the front subframe giving the subframe 4 more anchor points. The wheelbase increases slightly and the driveshaft could stand to be slightly longer.

YES, I have this problem too, even on the street at times. The light turns green, I plunged the peddle and the KOs grind the front of the well. I'll have to check out these "hangers".

[FireVan]

I just replaced the dark "after" picture in the first post with one from today. Here are a couple more pics. It's getting there.

[ihatemybike]

Thing looks good without the front bumper cover, think that might happen to Grumpy.